AKIHABARA

• Prize
  Gold in People/Life Style
• Photographer
  Hajime Hirano
• Technical Info
  Ss 1/20 , F7.1 , Iso 200 , Full Frame
• Photo Date
  2024/05/17

「AKIHABARA」 During World War II, the area around Akihabara was damaged and almost ruined by the air raids in Tokyo. After the war, the black market became lively. The prototype of today's Akihabara was a gathering of street vendors selling parts for the modular radios. After the late 1950's, during the period of rapid economic growth, it grew into "Japan's largest electronics town." Nowadays, it is famous worldwide as a mecca for anime and cosplay culture. With two extreme faces, we can say Akihabara is a town that embodies the essence of "Japaneseness"

My hometown, Saga Prefecture, is hidden famous production area of wheat in Japan. I have taken 80,000 photos of wheat fields for the past 8 years. By fascination of those vitality, I obtained a trademark registration for "mugigrapher®," means "a photographer specializing in wheat and barley" in Japanese. "Unusual always exists with usual days. Decay also exists with beauty." This perspective is connected to all of my photographic stances, including street snaps. I won "Sony World Photography Awards" 2023 Japan National Awards 1st Place and 2nd Place in the same category in 2024.